that's a wrap.

For my sister's birthday, I got her a pair of stirling silver heart earrings, but was struggling to come up with a creative way of giving them to her as they were so small. 

I found a cute wee china box with her first initial on the front, so I placed the earrings on a piece of card, with a little bit of tissue paper and put them inside. 

As cute as this looked, I wasn't finished yet - I then bought a mason jar to put the china box inside (and yes I realise this is sounding a wee bit like a one person pass-the-parcel!) I also decided to put some sweets in the jar. Really, you could put any kind of confectionary in the jar, but I settled on White Rabbits. Bit of a backstory, White Rabbits were lollies we had as kids when we lived in Borneo, and I was stoked to find them in a store here in Wellington. 

To finish it off, I added a black ribbon and hand-made a card with a wee typewriter that I drew on the front. My sister seemed to love it, and it put a smile on her face so I was very happy. 

Happy Birthday big sis!

the best thing in January.

Something new i'm going to be starting on this blog is called 'the best thing,' where at the end of every month I will look back and share what my favourite thing about the month was - pretty self explanatory. 

I know we're already in to the swing of February, but here's the best things about January... 

2013 brought a lot of fresh starts for me, and the best thing about my January was all the changes, and how happy they've made me. From simple things like changing bedrooms, to starting this blog and being more inspired, to more personal changes. 

I stumbled across this quote a few weeks back which sums up how I feel perfectly. It follows along the same lines of saying "yes" to everything, and already I've had some amazing opportunities come my way which I put down to my change in attitude. 

Let me know what the best thing about your January was in the comments below or tweet me @smayjay

xx

Uni or bust.

I was all for going straight to University after high school. I thought I knew exactly what I wanted to do and had it all planned out. 

Through my high school i'd heard of a gap year programe, which gave you the opportunity to work at a school in the United Kingdom. Because of my travel bug, I applied, but didn't think i'd get the chance to go, so continued to check out Universities and live life as normal. 

In August of my senior year I got an email saying I had been accepted, and was going to be placed at The Dragon School in Oxford, England. It was only when I told my friends and saw their reaction that I questioned wether it was the right thing for me or not. Was I ready to leave all my friends and family for a year and go and live on the other side of the world? 

Turns out I was, and to this day I maintain that taking a gap year was one of the best decisions of my life. I got placed at a school with 23 other gap students from Australia and South Africa and was a 'matron" for Cherwell House, home to 80+ 11-13 year old girls.

          

Although testing at times, I felt I grew up a lot on my gap year and experienced so many things. I travelled all around Europe and met so many amazing people, some of whom are still my best friends to this day. I still had regular communication with friends back home, and on my return it was like nothing had changed.

While on my gap year, I also decided I was no longer keen on going to Broadcasting School in Christchurch, my original plan for after high school. Instead I decided I wanted to go to Massey University in Wellington and complete a Bachelor or Communication degree. 

Since I went on my gap year, I can't say what would have happened if I had gone to broadcasting school, but all I know is that the degree i'm completing now is so perfect for me and I can't imagine doing anything else.  

In saying that though, heaps of people I know have gone straight to Uni and still love what they do, but for wanderlusters like myself, before hitting the books, I hit the University of Life, as nothing beats experience. 

the one year rule.

I am a serious over-packer. Whenever I go away somewhere, even if i'm only going for a night or two, i'll take enough clothes to last me at least a week. 

So I guess there's nothing left to do but admit it....Hi i'm Samme, and i'm a clothes hoarder. 

A few years ago I had a self intervention and decided upon the one year rule. Just as it sounds, the one year rule basically means any clothes I haven't worn in the last year get given to a second hand shop on passed on.  Of course, there are a few stragglers in my wardrobe, like that too small school production shirt or my first concert t-shirt and a ball dress or two, but everything else is stuff that I actually wear.

As a true shopping addict, getting rid of clothes does mean an excuse to go out an buy more, but it also means a chance to be creative, and customise your old clothes into new pieces. 

So far i've managed to stick by the rule, though i'm not sure if thats purely because i've started wearing all my clothes out of fear I might have to give them away!

(and yes, I really am this weird.... le sigh)

P.S, A large section of my wardrobe is taken up with Liner Note Kids apparel.  I may be bias as it's my sisters clothing line, but I think it's pretty awesome, go check it out!